Vista vs Polaris: Which One Do I Need?

Two terrain tools, same studio. Here's which one is right for you, and when you might want both.

If you've browsed Pinwheel Studio's Asset Store page, you've probably seen both Polaris and Vista and wondered: what's the difference? Are they competing products? Do I need both?

Short answer: they solve different problems, and they're designed to work together. Here's how to pick the right one for your project.

The one-sentence version

Polaris is a sculpting and painting tool. You build your terrain by hand, the way a sculptor would.

Vista is a procedural generator. You wire up a node graph, set parameters, and let it generate terrain for you.

If that's enough, you're done. If not, keep reading.

What is Polaris?

Polaris is a mesh based terrain tool for stylized low poly games. Instead of Unity's built-in terrain, Polaris creates real mesh geometry that you can sculpt, paint, and stamp directly in the editor.

The workflow is hands-on:

• Sculpt elevation with brushes.

• Stamp pre-made shapes (hills, craters, plateaus).

• Draw roads and rivers with splines.

• Paint color and foliage placement by hand.

The output is a stylized low poly mesh, easy to control visually. If you already have a specific look in your head, Polaris is how you build it.

Editions: Valley, Highland, and Summit.

What is Vista?

Vista is a node graph procedural terrain generator. You build a graph, connect nodes for erosion, heightmap generation, texturing, and foliage placement, then hit generate. Change a parameter and everything updates. It's non destructive by design.

The standout feature is the biome system: instead of painting giant masks on a map, you place biomes in the scene like an artist placing props. Vista blends them together automatically. It feels less like programming and more like art direction.

Vista works with both Unity Terrain and Polaris Terrain as output targets, and it's GPU accelerated, so generation stays fast even on large resolutions.

Editions: Personal (free), Indie, Pro.

The real difference: how you like to work

Features aside, the actual difference is workflow philosophy.

Polaris is for when you know what you want. You have a mental picture of your terrain, and you want to build it directly. The tools get out of your way and let you sculpt.

Vista is for when you want to discover what looks good. You set up a graph, iterate on parameters, and converge on something great through experimentation. It's especially powerful when you need multiple terrain variations, procedural repeatability, or large open worlds.

Ask yourself:

• Do you sketch terrain shapes before opening Unity? -> Polaris.

• Do you prefer tweaking sliders until something clicks? -> Vista.

• Are you building a stylized project for desktop, mobile, or VR? -> Polaris.

• Do you need procedural variety or a large open world? -> Vista.

• Do you want to try for free before committing? -> Vista Personal.

Can I use both?

Yes, and this is intentional. Vista can generate terrain data directly into Polaris terrain. That means you can use Vista to rough out the macro shapes procedurally (elevation, erosion, basic texturing), then switch into Polaris to hand-sculpt the details and do fine-grained painting.

Procedural foundation, artistic refinement. It's the best of both workflows for projects where you want speed and control.

Quick comparison

So, which one?

Making a stylized low poly game -> Polaris.

Need procedural terrain generation -> Vista.

Want to try before you buy -> Vista Personal (free, commercial use included).

Building a large open world with a stylized art style -> Both.

If you're still unsure, start with Vista Personal. It's free, supports commercial projects, and gives you a real feel for whether the procedural workflow suits how you think. If you find yourself wanting more direct sculpting control, that's your sign to add Polaris.